Doctor Who of course has a great deal of villains-while some are regular corrupt humans, most are inhuman-and often grotesque creatures, or ‘monsters’. Some spoilers ahead!
The Doctor’s main nemesis has been the Daleks. Outwardly, the Dalek appears to be a robot, a cross between a salt/pepper shaker and a tank. However, they are in fact, Cybernetic/bionic. The actual “Dalek” is a one-eyed octopusesque mutant creature from the planet Skaro. Originally a humanoid race called the Kaleds, the Daleks suffered from a nuclear war and-accelerated by a mad scientist known as “Davros”-were mutated into the Dalek creature.
The Dalek’s persona is that it believes it’s the superior lifeform in the universe, and everything else must be exterminated or subjugated. The Doctor first encountered them in his first incarnation, and since then has encountered them in almost every regeneration.
The Cybermen are next up. Like the Daleks, they’re a mix of robotic and organic components. However, unlike the Daleks, they retain a humanoid shape and are even more unemotional and cold. There are two types of Cybermen in Doctor Who. The original Cybermen appear mostly in the original Doctor Who series, where they come from Earth’s sister planet “Mondas”, but their enviornment had deteriated so badly that they were forced to fashion mechanical replacements for their bodies in order to survive. The Cybermen in the new series have a similar design but a different origin; they come from an alternate universe where the Cybermen were created on Earth.
The Weeping Angels are one of the more popular ‘new’ monsters from the series. Basically, the Weeping Angels-which resemble humanoid stone angel statues-are unable to move when seen. But blink or look in a different direction, and they’ll attack. Weeping Angels have appeared in season 3 and 5 of the new series.
Perhaps no villain has ever had the effect that “The Master” has had. The Master is, like the Doctor, a renegade time lord and has gone through multiple incarnations. But unlike the Doctor, the Master is evil and often insane-a condition triggered-at least in the new series-by hearing constant war-drums in his mind. He and the Doctor used to be friends, and have had a complex relationship since the Master went mad.
The Master has been played by the following:
Roger Delgado (1971-1973) The original Master, he sported a devilish beard, and often plotted with other aliens to take over the universe. He often imployed disguises-often using anagrams of “Master”. He also had a powerful hypnotic ability to get others to do his bidding.
Peter Pratt/Geoffrey Beavers (1976-1980) These two actors played the same incarnation. Basically, in this incarnation the Master had exhaused all his regenerations and was basically a skeletal husk clinging to life. He attempted to gain power from Gallifrey, and later a planet called Traaken-to renew himself. He was mostly sucessful the second time-posessing the father of one of the Doctor’s companions, he became:
Anthony Ainley (1980-1989) The longest running of the Masters, Ainley played the Master as somewhat more insane and more sinister than previous incarnations. Like the Delgado incarnation, he had a beard and often imployed disguises which fooled even the Doctor at some points.
Eric Roberts (1996) Yes, that Eric Roberts. The Master’s essence-contained in a slimy snake-like being-posessed an EMT. Eric Robert’s Master sported sunglasses and a leather jacket, and attempted to steal the Doctor’s regenerations.
Derek Jacobi (2007) The Master was ressurected for the Time War, but he cowardly left the battle, turned himself into a human to evade Dalek detection and kept his memory encased in a fob watch. He became the kindly Professor Yana, but was still haunted by half-memories of who he used to be. Eventually, the Master’s memories returned when he opened the fob watch, and he regenerated into
John Simm (2007-2010) This Master escaped to the year 2007 and sucessfully ran for Prime Minister under the name “Harold Saxon” using his hypnotic skills to get people to vote for him. “Saxon” also took a wife, Lucy Saxon, who became the Master’s main henchwoman. “Saxon” conquered the world with the help of the Toclafane, a possible Dalekesque future version of the human race. He even defeated the Doctor, aging him and keeping him as a pet. However the Doctor was able to reverse the Master’s conquest. This version of the Master apparentally ‘died’, but was later ressurected and had become even more insane. Attempting to conquer the universe once more, he even suceeded in semi-ressurecting the Time Lords. His last known act was saving the Doctor from the time lords.
I’ll be adding more later on more minor WHO villains, such as the Slitheen, Autons, and the Ood.
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